Theology
Various theological bits as I prep my weekly sermon and read
Theology
Herod the Great Wives and Children
Herod the Great
Herod the Great (37–4 BC). In 37 BC, the Idumean ruler Herod the Great captured Jerusalem with Roman support and was designated king of Judea by the Roman Senate. Herod had a significant impact on the life setting of Jesus and the early church.
Herod’s consolidation of power: Herod was a close friend of Mark Antony and sided with Anto
... See moreAnd since, in imitation of a rhetorician training a pupil, he introduces a Jew, who enters into a personal discussion with Jesus, and speaks in a very childish manner, altogether unworthy of the grey hairs of a philosopher, let me endeavour, to the best of my ability, to examine his statements, and show that he does not maintain, throughout the dis... See more
Origen: Contra Celsus, Book 1 (Roberts-Donaldson)
Origen, Against Clesus, 1:28 Panthera
Golden Rule in the Negative Form in Palestinian Jewish Literature
In ancient Jewish Palestinian literature the saying is found only in a negative version;a likewise in the “Teaching of the Twelve Apostles.”b The positive version in Jesus’ mouth goes beyond the negative version just as far as, for example, “help and support” goes beyond “do no harm.”
... See more2 Chronicles 7:14 in Rabbinic Literature
Jerusalem Talmud Taʿanit 2.65B.3: R. Eleazar (ca. 270) said, “Three things cancel a hard (divine) decree, namely, prayer, almsgiving, and repentance, and all three are contained in one scriptural verse; see 2 Chr 7:13: ‘Then when my people bow down, over whom my name is named, and when they pray,’ this refers
... See moreBecause Wants to Hear the Prayers of His People
Genesis Rabbah 45 (28C): Why were the matriarchs (of Israel) barren? R. Levi (ca. 300) said in the name of R. Shela of Kefar Temarta (the village of dates; ca. 280) and R. Helbo (ca. 300) in the name of R. Yohanan († 279), “Because God desired their prayers and their words.”—The same is found in Midr.
... See moreIsaiah 11:3b-5
He shall not judge by what his eyes see,
or decide by what his ears hear;
4 but with righteousness he shall judge the poor,
and decide with equity for the meek of the earth;
he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth,
and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.
5 Righteousness shall be the belt around his waist,
and fa
... See more
Isaiah 11:1-2
Ah, you who make iniquitous decrees,
who write oppressive statutes,
2 to turn aside the needy from justice
and to rob the poor of my people of their right,
that widows may be your spoil,
and that you may make the orphans your prey!